Whiting mayor wooing National Mascot Hall of Fame

The mayor of Whiting says the Indiana town is trying to woo a hall of fame for sports mascots.

Representatives of the National Mascot Hall of Fame will visit Whiting next month to see if the town would make a good home for the museum, according to Mayor Joseph Stahura.

"They actually would like to hold an annual induction of mascots in downtown Whiting, including the mascot parade," Stahura told the Northwest Indiana Times.

He placed chances of a deal "somewhere in the 50 percent range now."

The National Mascot Hall of Fame was formed in 2005 and exists only online for now. Its first inductees were the Phillie Phanatic and the Famous Chicken. Other inductees have included Brutus Buckeye from Ohio State University and Bucky the Badger from the University of Wisconsin.

The hall of fame was founded by David Raymond, the original Phillie Phanatic from 1978 to 1993.